FP+ Early or Late?

[MaxsDad]

It would seem to me that there are two opposite strategies for using the new FP+ system for guest like myself. I would like to hear opinions on which is more efficient/enjoyable, especially from guest who have experienced it firsthand. "Guest like Me" = Adult party of 2, AP'ers, Two Weeks a year, Rope Dropper's (ish), love headliner, enjoy Minor attractions, would love to soak in details, atmosphere more, and like to take mid-day break at on site resort then hop to a different park. We are going on one of the slowest weeks of the year according to Touring Plans, and previous experience.

One strategy that seems prudent would be to make all you FP+ ressies as early as possible so that you can make additional FP+ as needed later, even at another park, thereby not limiting yourself to three. Drawbacks seem to be no FP+ for fireworks, etc. on these days. And will you really need to use FP+ pre-noon at your morning park if you are there for rope drop to experience headliners?

Second Strategy would be to use FP+ in the late afternoon evening. Pros: This brings Fantasmic!, ROE, Wishes into play. You likely got to experience some headliners in the AM. You will have greater selection, availability for your PM FP's compared to day of Kiosk FP's. Cons: much more likely to be limited to three a day, and only be able to use FP at one park/day.

Opinions? Experiences? Qualifiers?

 

[ShookieJones]

We approach the parks in exactly the same way, so I've been going back forth with this one myself.

We were there last year in late September (going same time this year as well) and the whole FP+ and paper FP were happening simultaneously so we opted to book all our FP+ for the afternoon evening and use paper FP for morning.

You've stated the pros and cons pretty efficiently and I agree. Doesn't help us make a decision though does it!?? LOL...Hmm.

The only thing I can say is being rope droppers and going at a relatively moderate\slow crowd time we rarely "need" those morning FPs.

 

[mickey2008.1]

While we are not rope droppers, we like to use our FPS by mid afternoon, then get what we can for the night. we like the night scene with all the lights and stuff. Plus by the time night rolls around, it usually empties out, as we go in September. We also do not go to a park with EMH, which really helps in getting those extra FPS.

 

[Mr. Toad]

...We also do not go to a park with EMH, which really helps in getting those extra FPS.

This has also been my strategy for the last couple of trips and it has worked out well for us.

As for the FP+ question, we are also planning on getting all of ours for the morning/early afternoon and then using the kiosks for the rest of the day. We have usually been able to find a place to watch the parades, fireworks, etc... without too much trouble. I suppose this would not apply to Fantasmic but we don't spend a lot of time at Hollywood Studios so we don't usually worry about seeing the show.

 

[WDWYankee15]

As for the FP+ question, we are also planning on getting all of ours for the morning/early afternoon and then using the kiosks for the rest of the day. We have usually been able to find a place to watch the parades, fireworks, etc... without too much trouble.

This is what we are planning for our upcoming trip. I am curious as to the availability of 4th, 5th,... FP+'s at each park. What rides can you get? If there is anyone who could share first hand knowledge or point me to a thread that this is discussed in, it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[kbmum]

On our trip at the beginning of the month, we had mostly morning FPs. We arrived for park opening knowing that we would have no trouble getting on the rides we wanted the most and were able to fill in the time between FPs with other rides. One morning, we rode on Buzz, hit Space Mountain with a 9:15 FP, went on SM a second time with almost no wait, did Speedway, teacups, Small World, hit Big Thunder with a FP, took a break for frozen lemonade at Pecos Bill's, hit Splash Mountain with our third FP, then took the train to the front of the park to head back to the hotel for lunch. We did all of that in less than 3.5 hours.

Epcot and MK were very crowded in the evenings. Rides like Splash and Big Thunder had very few FP options, but we were able to get some for Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, Pirates and Buzz. It was interesting that the standby waits were more than half an hour for those rides, yet there were immediate FPs available at the kiosk. I just wish there were more kiosks in different locations.

One thing to consider with evening FPs is the weather and time of year that you're going. If it's summer with a good chance of evening showers, you can end up wasting FPs on outdoor rides that might be shut down.

 

[Dwarful]

I can't weigh in on the slow time of year. We were at WDW May 31 - June 8. I will tell you we are the same type of guests.

We noticed a lot of people, ourselves included moved FP+ to early in the morning...so rides that previously had minimal wait times now had longer wait times meaning we got fewer rides in during the first few hours of the park opening. This was especially true at MK and Epcot. We also noticed the evening ride sensation that kbmum noticed with 30 minute wait times yet immediate FP options available. We wondered if some people were in stand by killing time until their next FP time became available. The bigger rides tended to be out of FPs in the evenings. MK has the best/most FP options, Epcot is a joke and going during the slow time you might be better to opt for the evening FPs on that night. Sorry its not much help. Good luck.

 

[CheshireCat12]

Some days I am planning rope drop to ride certain rides multiple times (FP+ and standby). One of those days I'm hopping to another park later to take advantage of the 4th + FP+ option.
Other days I have something else in the morning (such as a water park) so I'm taking evening FP+. It just depends what you want to accomplish!

 

[dadddio]

I can't weigh in on the slow time of year. We were at WDW May 31 - June 8. I will tell you we are the same type of guests.

We noticed a lot of people, ourselves included moved FP+ to early in the morning...so rides that previously had minimal wait times now had longer wait times meaning we got fewer rides in during the first few hours of the park opening. This was especially true at MK and Epcot. We also noticed the evening ride sensation that kbmum noticed with 30 minute wait times yet immediate FP options available. We wondered if some people were in stand by killing time until their next FP time became available. The bigger rides tended to be out of FPs in the evenings. MK has the best/most FP options, Epcot is a joke and going during the slow time you might be better to opt for the evening FPs on that night. Sorry its not much help. Good luck.

If people moved their FP+s to morning and their were immediate FP+ times available, how would that result in fewer rides during the first few hours? It seems that it would result in lots of rides in the early hours and perhaps fewer rides in late afternoon.

 

[Dwarful]

Well, the stand by line early in the morning didn't move as quickly because more people went straight to the FP line. At MK it sort of was a wash for the less popular rides were still available into the evening hours. It was at parks like AK with Everest that we saw the biggest jam up. Some people like us went straight to standby to get on quickly, but others went straight to FP so that slowed down the standby line. Not sure if I am explaining this correctly...sorry.

 

[cw1982]

Personally, I think it depends on the parks you're visiting each day and what your goals are.

For example, AK is usually pretty empty during morning EMH's, so if you're doing to AK on a day with morning EMH, I would save those FP+'s for your second park, since you could easily get in time on EE, Dinosaur, etc before regular opening time and still have plenty of time to walk around and explore. At the MK, if you're going anytime soon, you'll probably not have much of an issue at RD unless you're wanting to use that time to see Anna and Elsa or ride 7DMT. Since most people are going to those two attractions, everything else should be pretty manageable for the first couple of hours.

As far as using FP+ for shows like Fantasmic and Illuminations, IMO they're a waste because they take up your tier one fastpass, making it impossible to get a FP for Soarin', Test Track, or RNRC. What I did find to work very well in June at HS was to wait until about two hours before the second Fantasmic show to book the FP for that. There was still plenty of availability, and we still got to use our rolling FP for other options first. Having said that, this probably only works for shows where there are two shows in one night, since the first show is usually so packed out.

 

[disney4life2008]

Personally, I think it depends on the parks you're visiting each day and what your goals are.

For example, AK is usually pretty empty during morning EMH's, so if you're doing to AK on a day with morning EMH, I would save those FP+'s for your second park, since you could easily get in time on EE, Dinosaur, etc before regular opening time and still have plenty of time to walk around and explore. At the MK, if you're going anytime soon, you'll probably not have much of an issue at RD unless you're wanting to use that time to see Anna and Elsa or ride 7DMT. Since most people are going to those two attractions, everything else should be pretty manageable for the first couple of hours.

As far as using FP+ for shows like Fantasmic and Illuminations, IMO they're a waste because they take up your tier one fastpass, making it impossible to get a FP for Soarin', Test Track, or RNRC. What I did find to work very well in June at HS was to wait until about two hours before the second Fantasmic show to book the FP for that. There was still plenty of availability, and we still got to use our rolling FP for other options first. Having said that, this probably only works for shows where there are two shows in one night, since the first show is usually so packed out.

Excellent suggestion on second show for Fantasmic!

 

[MaxsDad]

Thanks for some really good insights as to how its gone so far, and other points of view as well.

We have late FP+ on our arrival day, as I do not expect to be there first thing in the morning. It is pretty cool to know that there is a 90% chance we will get to play Toy Story Midway Mania on our arrival day (ride could be down, etc.) even if we do not set foot on property until well after lunch for some reason. We did not ride it on our last trip due to "issues" with the ride.

The rest are AM FP+'s right now. The one I am thinking of changing is DAK. I have rarely had an issue doing what I want there in a half day if we get there by 15 after opening or so.

As I type this at 4:45, according to the phone App, there are FP still available at the mountains, and Soarin/TT. I wonder how accurate that is?

My DW is not all that big of a fan of the nighttime spectaculars anyway.

 

[MaxsDad]

As I type this at 4:45, according to the phone App, there are FP still available at the mountains, and Soarin/TT. I wonder how accurate that is?

After further review, I think i may have mistaken FP+ capability with FP+ availability.

 

[daisyduckie]

I'm trying to figure this all out too. It is making my head hurt.

Sooo---at MK and AK spend the first few hour riding the rides and schedule FP+ for later in the day.
At DS and Epcot schedule FP+ early. Is that what seems to be working best?

 

[cw1982]

I'm trying to figure this all out too. It is making my head hurt.

Sooo---at MK and AK spend the first few hour riding the rides and schedule FP+ for later in the day.
At DS and Epcot schedule FP+ early. Is that what seems to be working best?

It depends on what your goals are and when you're going, but imo most parks start getting busier around 11 or so. MK has the most to do in terms of rides, so using FP before lunch for anything other than 7dmt and Anna and Elsa isn't really necessary, especially if you have a smart phone and can look at wait times from the app. At AK one can easily get a lot done first thing in the morning (riding the safari is best in the morning anyway, before the animals get hot and head for shade), especially if you can go during EMH. So yes, I would say the FP's are more useful after about 11 or so there too.
HS has a lot of shows. Unless you're wanting to re-ride certain things over and over, imo there's not much advantage to using FP early for there either. If you are wanting, say, two FP's for RnRC, your best bet is to book your first three first thing in the morning, move your 2nd and 3rd time up after your first FP is used and move the third one up again after you use your 2nd one, and then book it to the nearest kiosk and hope there are still times available. It's not impossible, but not guaranteed to work. That's why I say when you go matters.

At Epcot, I would just do whatever works with your plans. The only thing to watch for there is Test Track and Soarin'. FP one of them and hit the other at park opening or ride Test Track in the single rider line. Otherwise, the bulk of the rides will still have some kind of available times after your first three, so it's not really an issue.

 

[Aurora1]

It would seem to me that there are two opposite strategies for using the new FP+ system for guest like myself. I would like to hear opinions on which is more efficient/enjoyable, especially from guest who have experienced it firsthand. "Guest like Me" = Adult party of 2, AP'ers, Two Weeks a year, Rope Dropper's (ish), love headliner, enjoy Minor attractions, would love to soak in details, atmosphere more, and like to take mid-day break at on site resort then hop to a different park. We are going on one of the slowest weeks of the year according to Touring Plans, and previous experience.

One strategy that seems prudent would be to make all you FP+ ressies as early as possible so that you can make additional FP+ as needed later, even at another park, thereby not limiting yourself to three. Drawbacks seem to be no FP+ for fireworks, etc. on these days. And will you really need to use FP+ pre-noon at your morning park if you are there for rope drop to experience headliners?

Second Strategy would be to use FP+ in the late afternoon evening. Pros: This brings Fantasmic!, ROE, Wishes into play. You likely got to experience some headliners in the AM. You will have greater selection, availability for your PM FP's compared to day of Kiosk FP's. Cons: much more likely to be limited to three a day, and only be able to use FP at one park/day.

Opinions? Experiences? Qualifiers?

We just got back in mid-July and we were Rope Droppers combined with Early morning FP+. For us, the rope drop allowed us to ride Big Thunder 5 times in a row without getting off the ride, heading straight to Splash for 2 rides and then moving through fantasyland. This was in the middle of the rush of July, which is saying something!

What I loved about using our FP+ early in the day (pre noon most days) was that we could then stay in one area (ex. Adventureland) and do the other rides that normally wouldn't require a FP but under the new system, bump the ride times up without the hassle. For example, we wanted to ride Jungle Cruise but the line was 40 minutes. So by making a quick stop right at the FP+ kiosk, we got one immediately, waited 2 minutes and got right off to book a FP+ for Pirates, and so on. On our two MK days, we used 6 additional FP+ per day, totaling 9 FP+ each day. We rode every ride at least once per day, and had a great time of it.

 

[Aurora1]

This is what we are planning for our upcoming trip. I am curious as to the availability of 4th, 5th,... FP+'s at each park. What rides can you get? If there is anyone who could share first hand knowledge or point me to a thread that this is discussed in, it would be greatly appreciated.

You can get potentially any ride, but when we were there in mid July there were a few rides that were "sold out" by the time we finished our first 3 FP+. Those were rides like Mine Train, TSMM, Soarin-- I think those were the only three we weren't able to book for later in the day! The downside of some of the more requested rides is that you'll get a later FP+ time, meaning you won't get another extra FP+ til that time is up. For us, the FP+ for rides that never needed a FP became really useful, as we could skip the 40 minute waits for Pirates, Haunted Mansion & Jungle Cruise and hop right on!

 

[MaxsDad]

We just got back in mid-July and we were Rope Droppers combined with Early morning FP+. For us, the rope drop allowed us to ride Big Thunder 5 times in a row without getting off the ride, heading straight to Splash for 2 rides and then moving through fantasyland. This was in the middle of the rush of July, which is saying something!

What I loved about using our FP+ early in the day (pre noon most days) was that we could then stay in one area (ex. Adventureland) and do the other rides that normally wouldn't require a FP but under the new system, bump the ride times up without the hassle. For example, we wanted to ride Jungle Cruise but the line was 40 minutes. So by making a quick stop right at the FP+ kiosk, we got one immediately, waited 2 minutes and got right off to book a FP+ for Pirates, and so on. On our two MK days, we used 6 additional FP+ per day, totaling 9 FP+ each day. We rode every ride at least once per day, and had a great time of it.

Thanks. Sounds like it works great.